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Byword vs Motto - What's the difference?

byword | motto |

As nouns the difference between byword and motto

is that byword is a proverb or proverbial expression, common saying; a frequently used word or phrase while motto is (heraldry) a sentence, phrase, or word, forming part of an heraldic achievement.

byword

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A proverb or proverbial expression, common saying; a frequently used word or phrase.
  • A characteristic word or expression; a word or phrase associated with a person or group.
  • Someone or something that stands (metonymically) for something else, by having some of that something's characteristic traits.
  • An object of notoriety or contempt, scorn or derision.
  • * 1890 , (Oscar Wilde), The Picture of Dorian Gray , chapter XII:
    • "I know you and Harry are inseparable. Surely for that reason, if for none other, you should not have made his sister's name a by-word ."
  • A nickname or epithet.

    • motto

    English

    (Webster 1913)

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • (heraldry) A sentence, phrase, or word, forming part of an heraldic achievement.
  • A sentence, phrase, or word, prefixed to an essay, discourse, chapter, canto, or the like, suggestive of its subject matter; a short, suggestive expression of a guiding principle; a maxim.
  • * (Joseph Addison) (1672-1719)
    • It was the motto of a bishop eminent for his piety and good works, ... Serve God, and be cheerful.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers), title=(A Cuckoo in the Nest)
    • , chapter=1 citation , passage=“[…] the awfully hearty sort of Christmas cards that people do send to other people that they don't know at all well. You know. The kind that have mottoes like
      Here's rattling good luck and roaring good cheer, / With lashings of food and great hogsheads of beer. […]”}}

    Synonyms

    * See also